Brief special session starts TuesdayLITTLE ROCK — The House will convene the day after Memorial Day, May 26, to address several issues for what we expect to be a brief special session. The governor’s primary reason for calling us back into session is to address an economic development opportunity. We are being asked to approve $87 million in state bonds as an incentive for Lockheed Martin to expand its Camden facility. If Lockheed Martin is awarded a contract by the federal gove...

Police: Burglar breaks into house, falls asleep on couchPolice in Sarasota, Florida, have arrested a man they say broke into a home, then fell asleep on the couch. The Bradenton Herald reported Timothy Bontrager, 29, was arrested Saturday morning. Police said the resident woke up and found Bontrager sleeping on her living room couch. When she asked Bontrager what he was doing in her house, he apologized and left after she told him she was calling police. Officials said the resident told them Bontra...

Less assistance hikes students’ costs‘Tis the season for tuition increases, and almost all of Arkansas’ public colleges and universities are getting in on the action, which complicates things especially for first-time students and their parents. Almost any institution can find ways to cut costs, and many are doing just that. But colleges and universities are having to shift more of the burden for financing their operations to the students because of declining state support. The C...

Session tests governor for future fightsLITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson appears unlikely to face any insurmountable obstacles in his push for incentives to lure a defense project to the state, or any of the other major items on his agenda when lawmakers convene this week. But the special session could offer the Republican governor a practice round for a much tougher fight later this year over the future of the state’s compromise Medicaid expansion. Unlike the first “super...

Aquatic center: sink or swim?Guest column: Many taxpayers are asking, “Are we ever going to have an aquatic center?” This is very much a fair question to ask. After all, it has been 34 months since the city signed a contract with ETC Architects & Engineers from Little Rock. There have been numerous public hearings held at both the Hughes Center and City Hall. Various special interests groups, swim teams, physical therapy groups, recreational groups have all given authorit...

Letter to the EditorWe have no choice Isn’t it funny that 17 months into the extended one-cent sales tax, the city finance director tells us we need more? The sad fact is, he’s right. But what we don’t need to do is fund projects that are not completely necessary to the prolonged financial health of Russellville, as has been suggested. We need to fund the mandated replacement of the sewer system in Russellville. Mandated by a Consent Administrative Order (CAO) en...

Property and suffrage Throughout history, many people, even in democracies have believed that there should either be a property and/or tax requirement for voting. Even John Locke (1632-1704), who in his era was considered to be a famous liberal, stated the basic rights of man to have life, liberty and property. Although Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) modified these basic rights of man to be the inalienable right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, many peo...

A late Mother’s DayI wanted to write this column last Sunday to coincide with Mother’s Day, but it didn’t happen. Since I currently have a 2-month-boy old baby boy, I’ve been thinking a lot about mothers lately. Specifically, I’ve been thinking how lucky I am for the mothers that are in my life. Namely: My own mother and my wife, Melissa. When Melissa and I were dating, I think it would be fair to say that patience wasn’t her strongest attribute. I think she wou...

Baltimore issues not rooted in racists policeAttorney General Loretta Lynch has announced a Justice Department investigation to determine whether the Baltimore Police Department’s practices are unconstitutional and violate civil rights; in short, whether or not the police force there is racist. It will come as no surprise if the investigation concludes that it is, because accusing the department of racism diverts attention from the city’s real problem: Baltimore, a laboratory for liberal...

Celebrate birth of the churchMay 24 is the 1,982nd birthday of the Lord’s Church. When Simon Peter acknowledged him as the Christ or Anointed One and Son of the living God, Jesus said, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:16-18). The church is built upon the rock-solid foundation of who Jesus is, and he is the same yesterday, today, and forever (1 Corinthians 3:11; Hebrews 13:8). “Christ loved the church and gave h...

Endings and new beginningsIt’s mid-May and time for celebrating graduations. It’s a time to look back on accomplishments and, more importantly, to look forward to new phases and opportunities in life. Commencement speakers will provide graduates with their words of wisdom about the next stage, whether it be moving on to college or graduate school or entering the working world. Friends will bestow gifts, and teachers will pat their students on their backs and wish them ...

The secret to happinessCONWAY — It has been said that happiness is the universal goal. To be sure, everyone wants to be happy. No one wants to be miserable and fail in life. Sadly many people are unhappy, and I suspect a good number of them do not really understand why they are unhappy. If you are not as happy as you would like to be, I have some thoughts to share with you today that may be helpful. At least this is my heart’s desire. While I have never claimed to h...

To all Pope County law enforcementThis is a special Thank You to all the law enforcement in Pope County. I would like to say a special thanks to our law enforcement men and women for their great work. Just look in The Courier daily and see the arrests the police and Sheriff’s Department make every day. I hope they can have enough funds for the expenses they have. I believe they should have the support of all city and county residents. Thanks again for your work and the danger ...

Important teaching most forgetMost readers of this paper would probably claim to believe in God. Not all, but most would likely profess to have faith in God and true faith at that. That noted, who is this God? Throughout this nation we think about that less often than we really should. I saw that some years ago, when an Episcopalian Air Force chaplain in another state took me to a meeting of a community interfaith organization, there were a Hindu fellow, a Wiccan woman and...

Exemption from preserving records should be deletedElectronic mail has become a critical part of our American culture. Almost everyone uses it, to such an extent that the U.S. Postal Service is running huge deficits in large because of the loss of letter business. E-mail is quick and easy, so much so that you can send a message to someone halfway around the world and get a response within minutes. There are other ways to do the same thing, including texting, but electronic mail is more readily...

Huckabee’s impact seen in state’s politicsHOPE — Touting himself as an outsider as he launched his second bid for the Republican presidential nomination, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is relying on many of the same themes that helped him first get elected 22 years ago. Back then, he promised to “unplug” a Democratic political machine in a state where Republicans were a rare sight in public office. Now that he’s again seeking the White House, he’s relying on a political machine in...

Mickey Gilley turns back clock in RussellvilleI came away from the wonderful three-hour plus concert commemorating the 35th year anniversary of the “Urban Cowboy” movie so excited that I forgot to find out one thing I really wanted to know, which was who brought the absolutely great show to Russellville. Whoever you are, you are certainly due a big “thank you” from the 1,600 or so who turned out at the beautiful Russellville Center for the Arts. You brought in one heck of a show that star...

Here's a penny for your thoughtsCONWAY — In the days back when I was in high school, every so often another student would catch you in a moment when you had a faraway look in your eyes and they would say, “A penny for your thoughts.” This is what I thought about when I read something a friend sent me the other day. It has to do with coins and was something I had never heard before. Have you ever been in a cemetery and seen coins lying on a tombstone? There is actually a reas...

Encouragement and effortMost of us experience ups and downs, but most of us realize that the downs are temporary. Somewhere along the way, we learned that if we picked ourselves back up, dusted ourselves off and tried again, possibly in a different way, then the outcome would be different. It might have been a parent, a teacher, a neighbor, older sibling or grandparent, but at some point during our formative years, someone taught us that our positive actions could an...

About race, politics and liesAmong the many painful ironies in the current racial turmoil is that communities scattered across the country were disrupted by riots and looting because of the demonstrable lie that Michael Brown was shot in the back by a white policeman in Missouri — but there was not nearly as much turmoil created by the demonstrable fact that a fleeing black man was shot dead by a white policeman in South Carolina. Totally ignored was the fact that a black...